How to Help Prevent Cyberstalking

You can help prevent cyberstalking by protecting your data with a password manager, staying private on social media and following other cybersecurity best practices to keep yourself and your data safe.

Keep reading to learn the best tips for preventing cyberstalking.

What Is Cyberstalking?

Cyberstalking is stalking conducted using technology. It involves repeated, frightening harassment that includes unwanted messages and phone calls that may contain threats, monitoring online activities, tracking with electronic devices, threatening to publicly post confidential information and more. Cyberstalkers may hack the accounts and devices of victims in order to steal information (including location data) and install malware, which is malicious software that can allow them to track and monitor the victim.

Cyberstalking statistics

• In 2019, there were nearly 3 million victims of stalking with technology, according to the US Department of Justice. 
• A majority of victims – 67% – knew their stalker. 
• A significant portion of cyberstalking was perpetuated by intimate partners of the victim – 18% of technology-only stalking and 35% of stalking that included behaviors of both cyberstalking and traditional stalking. 
• 22% of cyberstalking victims were spied on by their perpetrator using listening devices, cameras or computer monitoring software. 

Effects of cyberstalking

Cyberstalking causes victims to fear for their safety or the safety of someone they know. As a result, there are significant consequences for victims’ mental health. They can experience Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and symptoms like depression, anxiety, anger and fear.

There is also a financial impact to being a victim of cyberstalking. Legal fees and the expense of recovering or replacing hacked accounts and devices can become costly. The victim may even need to move to a different home or pay for extra security like cameras.

Help Avoid Cyberstalking With a Password Manager

A password manager is a secure tool that stores passwords and other confidential information in a digital vault that can only be accessed by the user’s master password. It’s an important tool for personal cybersecurity. Here are a few ways it can help protect a user:

Protect your accounts and devices with strong passwords

A major component of cyberstalking is compromising the accounts and devices of victims in order to steal confidential information, install malware such as keyloggers to monitor their activity and track their location. 

Creating unique, strong passwords for each account and device goes a long way in preventing a cyberstalker from gaining access. A strong password has at least 16 characters with a mix of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols.

A password manager makes it easy by automatically generating and securely storing strong passwords for each of your accounts. Autofill allows you to log into your accounts without needing to type out a 16-character password each time. Password managers remember your passwords for you – the only password you will need to remember is your master password.

Securely store confidential files

Good password managers let you store more than passwords – they allow you to store and securely share confidential records. This is an important measure to protect yourself from bad actors, including cyberstalkers,  because cyberstalking often includes threats to expose confidential information obtained from hacking your devices or accounts and accessing unencrypted files.

Revoke permissions to passwords and secure files

Secure file sharing is a convenient way to share passwords and other confidential information with friends and family members. It also allows you to revoke access to a record at any time – which is important because cyberstalking offenders are often someone the victim knows. If you need to revoke access to information from anyone, a password manager makes it easy.

Other Ways to Prevent Cyberstalking

A password manager is an important component to keeping yourself safe online, including helping to prevent cyberstalking, but there are other important steps to keep you and your data safe and protected.

1. Clean up your digital footprint

Your digital footprint is all the information that people can find about you online. This can be your social media, voting registration, information on people-finder sites, any news about you and more.

Cleaning up your digital footprint can be time-consuming but worth it to protect your contact information, location and personal details that can be used to cyberstalk you. Deleting old accounts, requesting people-finder sites to take down your information and always monitoring the internet for new information available about you will all go a long way in preventing cyberstalking.

2. Lock down social media and use strong privacy settings

Social media is a great way to connect with others, but sometimes it’s easy to forget that information you share can be used against you by cybercriminals, including cyberstalkers. It’s important to use strong privacy settings so people you don’t add can’t see your information. 

Oversharing on social media can affect your privacy. You should be thoughtful and avoid posting details that can reveal information like your home address or other personally identifiable information. You also should never post from your current location – for example, wait until after you leave the restaurant to post your photos of your delicious meal. If a stalker is targeting you, they can use that post to find you in person.

Social media is not the only place to be cautious about what you share. You also should not post personal information in online forums, through video game chats or anywhere else that a stranger could see it.

3. Use a VPN when interacting with strangers online

A Virtual Private Network, or VPN, is a way to encrypt your web traffic. While VPNs have limitations, they can hide your true location from people online. Interacting with others on servers, such as when you play online video games, can lead to or foster cyberstalking.

Using a VPN can help prevent cybercrimes, including doxxing as well as cyberstalking, which can both happen in the online gaming community.

4. Block users who bother you

Behavior by rude or aggressive users and harassers can escalate into cyberstalking. If anyone behaves inappropriately towards you online, block them immediately to limit access to information about you.

While blocking will not stop a persistent cyberstalker from finding other ways to harass you, this important step limits their ability to view your information, preventing some damage. Limited access to your accounts can also help defuse the situation. If you believe a user has created new accounts for the purpose of harassing you, you can block those accounts too and report the user, as most websites have a policy against this behavior.

Best Cybersecurity Practices Can Help Prevent Cyberstalking

Cyberstalking is never the fault of the victim, but victims can help limit harm and prevent cyberstalking by following cybersecurity best practices like using strong, unique passwords, encrypting files, and using privacy settings online including blocking users.